


Forced Together

by Valleygirl285



Category: Roswell (TV 1999)
Genre: Character Death, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29000604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valleygirl285/pseuds/Valleygirl285
Summary: Maria and Liz go with the Aliens to the Evans summer cottage. While there things are revealed and Michael's and Maria's lives are turned upside down. Warning: This story will contain a brief sexual abuse scene that involves a child. The scene is not graphic but you should be warned. You can skip this if this upsets you, you will still be able to follow the story.
Relationships: Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin





	Forced Together

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I'm going through my old stories and I decided to re-post my old Roswell stories. I'm cleaning them up and getting rid of some scenes (sorry the sex scenes aren't my favorite...I can admit I pander to the fandom back in the day 😉) . This is a fairly long story so I'm going to post it in parts of hopefully 3 chapters each part.

Title: Forced Together

Author: Valley Girl 

Rating: Adult

Warnings: Dark Subject Matter

Chapter 1  
  
“But Liz, I don’t want to go to some cabin this weekend with the Czechoslovakians” Maria whine to her best friend who was currently busy packing Maria’s clothes into her duffel bag.  
  
“Maria you agreed to go. Max and I both agree that this would be good for the five of us. We need a chance to discuss things without worrying about someone eavesdropping on our conversation. Also this will give us a chance to get to know each other better and maybe learn to trust each other more.”  
  
“Liz, Max might be able to make this kind of connection, but I seriously doubt that the Ice Queen and Shock Hair Boy will. Did you not see the look in their faces in the ally, if they could have the world of killed us then and there. Not to mention the way Isabel acted when the Sheriff wanted to talk to me.  
  
“Stop being so paranoid. They appreciated what we did. Look this get away isn’t just for us to get to know each other but to also unwind from the past few weeks. Come on, I swear you’ll have a good time.” Liz said nicely but firmly, there was no way she was going to let Maria back out of this weekend.  
  
“Yeah were have I heard that before.” Maria moaned while following Liz out to the Jetta.  
  
  
“Max I actually agree with Michael on this. Maria is afraid of us. She almost blew it with Valenti.” Isabel huffed to her brother.  
  
“She almost blew it because of you Izzy. You deliberately tried to scare her onto our side. “ Max chide. “Besides, I think the reason you don’t want to go is because you’re afraid of liking Liz and Maria, especially since Maria didn’t crack, even after you tried to intimate her.”  
  
“Well that might be Izzy’s reason, but it sure the Hell isn’t mine. Max I have no desire to get to know them, trust them or understand them. I say we stay away from them and they stay away from us.” Michael shot back to his ‘brother’.  
  
“Michael that just isn’t going to happen, so get used to it.” Max snapped back.  
  
“Maxwell…” Michael didn’t get to finish his thought because Max had already grabbed his bag and was heading out toward the jeep.  
  
“Forget Michael you know how he gets where Perfect Parker is concerned.” Isabel said as she grabbed her bag and followed her brother to the car.  
  
No sooner did Michael reach the jeep than the thorn, make the thorns, of his side pulled up in their car. He watched as both girls got out of the car and came over to them. Michael almost choked on his own vomit from watching the way Max and Liz were giving each other those disgusting ‘soulful’ looks. He turned his attention to the blond one when he heard her yapping.  
  
“So everyone here.” She said as she stood next to Liz, clinging to the other girl’s hand.  
  
Michael snorted, “Yes everyone is here. Damn Max your right she is a genius. The master of understatement herself.” Michael sneered.  
  
“Michael, cut it out.” Max warned.  
  
“That’s ok Max, you don’t have to apologize for him. I completely understand, and if making rude and nasty comments to me make him feel more secure about himself I can take it.” Maria said, deciding to take the high road.  
  
“Oh how insightful, where you get that garbage from Psychology 101.” Michael snapped.  
  
“No, Cosmo. I just finished an article about how guys with really small dicks try to over compensate by being smart asses!” Maria shot back.  
  
Isabel and Liz couldn’t help the snickers that erupted after Maria’s comeback. Max on the other hand didn’t even crack a smile, some things are sacred with guys and making fun of another guy’s dick is not cool. Not to mention Michael had actually won a few contests in the locker room regarding size.  
  
Max looked over to his ‘brother’ and saw his eyes narrowing and he had started to storm over to Maria who looked like she wasn’t about to give in. Max figured he should put a stop to this before it got too far out of hand. “Maybe we should get going. Izzy why don’t you go with Liz and Maria, Michael you’re with me.”  
  
He saw that Michael wasn’t paying attention to him because he had stopped in front of Maria, who was actually pretending to ignore him and was talking to Liz. “Come on Michael, let’s go.” Max said while dragging him over to the jeep. He handed Michael the keys hoping that he would blow off some steam while driving. ‘This is going to be a long weekend.’ Max thought to himself as Michael took off at an obscene speed.  
  


RSWRSWRSW  
  


Seven hours later the teens were relaxing in the living room of the Evan’s summer cottage. Max and Liz immediately took over the love seat and Isabel sat down on the couch. Maria walked over and Izzy smiled and gestured for Maria to sit next to her. Michael could either sit next to the ‘blond bitch’ or the floor. Amazingly the floor looked pretty comfortable.  
  
Max noticed this and signed. They needed to do something and soon. “So what do you guys want to do?” Max asked.  
  
Nobody said anything causing Max to shrugged his shoulders mumbling to himself. This actually made Maria feel bad for Max and she decided to actually try. “I don’t know, how about we play a game or something.”  
  
Max smiled his appreciation but frowned when he remembered the only games they had here were from when he and Izzy were little and he didn’t see Michael as a “Shoots and Ladder” type of guy.  
  
“Actually we don’t have any games up here.” Isabel said.  
  
“Oh, well that’s ok.” Maria said looking over at Liz and saw that her best friend was actually beaming at her for trying, ‘oh well, in for a penny in for a pound’ Maria thought as the next words came out of her mouth. “We could always play ‘Truth or Dare’. I mean the whole idea of this weekend was to get to know each other and that is a pretty good way to achieve that.”  
  
Michael couldn’t help but snort at Maria’s suggestion. “I think you know enough truth about us.”  
  
“Michael loosen up a little.” Isabel scolded her almost brother then she turned her attention back to Maria. She had to admit it to herself, Maria could be fun. No one had ever shot Michael down like she did today. Not to mention she did handle herself pretty well with the Sheriff.  
  
“Truth or Dare sounds like a good idea.” Liz chimed. Max also shook his head in agreement.  
  
“Well Michael are you going to play or what?” Maria asked, not even trying to hide her annoyance. She decided to try and tempt him some more. “Look you can go first.” She added in a rather condescending voice.  
  
Michael looked around, Max was silently begging him to go along and Iz was just giving him one of her usual stern ‘don’t make me get angry’ looks. Liz didn’t even seem to notice anyone other than Max, pathetic. What really got his goat was Deluca. She was talking down to him. So he decided to teach her a lesson and get back at her for what she said earlier.  
  
“Fine I’ll play.” Huffed Michael.  
  
“OK, well I think we all know the rules so let’s just dive right in.” Maria said, taking control of the room. ‘I always thought I would make a great camp counselor’ she said to herself while mentally patting herself on the back.  
  
“Well then, Izzy truth or dare?” Michael said. He had decided to at least let one round go around before embarrassing ‘Miss Mouth’.  
  
“Um truth.” Isabel said.  
  
“What was your most embarrassing moment?” Michael actually smiled. This will teach her for laughing at him.  
  
“Oh God Michael. Give me something else.” Izzy demanded.  
  
“Sorry Isabel, but the rules are the rules.” Liz said.  
  
Isabel glared at Liz but knew she had to answer the question. “Fine but just remember it’s my turn next. OK, when I was twelve my family went on a sky trip. Anyway on the way up to the mountains I really had to pee. My dad pulled the car over and I had no choice but to go the bathroom behind the car.”  
  
“That’s your most embarrassing moment. Peeing behind the car.” Maria said.  
  
“No actually that’s not the embarrassing part. Come on Iz tell the rest of the story.” Max said while chuckling.  
  
Isabel just gave her brother a dirty look but continued anyway. It sucked that both Max and Michael knew the whole story. “I went behind the car and pulled my pants down and it was freezing cold. I couldn’t keep my balance so I sort of sat on the rear bumper while I was going.”  
  
At this point Liz and Maria started to smile; both had a good idea where this story was going being that “A Christmas Story” was one of their favorite movies. Besides Max was already laughing and Michael was actually smirking while she told the story.  
  
“Anyway after I was done I went to stand up but I couldn’t because my ass was stuck to the stupid bumper.” Isabel said as she saw that now the other two girls had joined Max in uncontrollable laughter. “If I were thinking straight I could have just used my powers but I wasn’t so instead I screamed and both my parent jumped out of the car.”  
  
“Oh God, no way.” Maria said while trying not to fall off the couch from laughing so hard. Even Isabel had started to laugh while recounting her tale of woe.  
  
“Yes way! There I was bare ass and stuck to the damn bumper. My mom desperately tried to think of a way to free me of my dilemma.”  
  
“What was your father doing?” Liz asked while wiping away a few tears from laughing.  
  
“Doing what you’re doing now. Him and my beloved brother over there stood at the side of the road doubled over laughing like hyenas. My mom finally remembered that she had brought a thermos with hot tea. She poured that over where I was stuck and my dad pried me from the bumper at the same time.”  
  
“Oh my God. Izzy that is the funniest thing I have ever heard.” Maria said while giving the other girl a quick hug.  
  
After everyone had settled down Isabel decided to make Max pay for making her tell the whole story. “Ok, my turn. Max truth or dare?”  
  
Max looked at his sister and realized all the embarrassing things she could make him confessed to, so he decided to take a dare. “Ok Iz I choice dare.” Max said warily.  
  
“Fine, I dare you to kiss….Maria.” Isabel challenged. No way was she going to give him free range to kiss Little Miss Doe Eyes. Besides this would be more fun.  
  
“Iz.” Max warned.  
  
“Oh no Max, the rules are the rules.” Isabel said, mimicking Liz’s earlier comment. Izzy looked over in time to see Maria give Liz a weak smile and a silent apology conveyed through the bubbly blonde’s eyes. Izzy almost felt guilty for using Maria like this, almost.  
  
“Come on Max, this whole weekend was to get to know each other better, remember.” Michael said. “Now put your money where your mouth is and get to know Maria a whole lot better.” He couldn’t help it. Michael loved to watch both Max and Liz squirm. Not to mention how uncomfortable Maria was that was just a bonus as far as he was concerned.  
  
“Fine this is no big deal. Maria I hope you’re not too uncomfortable with this.” Max said gently to the girl across from him.  
  
“No Max. It’s no biggie.” She said while smiling at her best friend and the guy of her dream.  
  
Max got up and squatted down in front of Maria. He slowly leaned in and brushed his lips against the blond. After ten seconds he pulled back. Michael couldn’t help but notice how Maria blushed after Max and her pulled apart. He also couldn’t understand why he was actually angry that Max had kissed her.  
  
Maria cleared her throat and turned to Liz with a naughty gleam in her eyes. “Not too bad, I give him a 9.7. We’ll just have to wait for the free style to see if he can take the gold.” Liz, Max and Isabel couldn’t help but laugh at Maria’s joke.  
  
‘Leave it to Maria, she always knows how to turn an awkward moment around.’ Liz thought to herself as she gave her friend a reassuring smile to let her know all was well between them.  
  
“Ok Max it’s your turn.” Michael snapped, for some reason he couldn’t take the silence any longer.  
  
“Alright Michael relax. Maria truth or dare?”  
  
“Um, I guess I’ll go for a dare.” She said hoping Max wasn’t going dare her to kiss Mr. Personality, even if he was kinda cute.  
  
“Ok, I dare you to let Izzy do something to you using her alien powers while your eyes are closed.” Max said, hoping Maria wouldn’t freak out too much and maybe, just maybe learn not be afraid of their powers.  
  
“What exactly do you mean?” Maria questioned. She hated that she couldn’t keep the fear out of her voice, she was starting to think kissing Michael wouldn’t be so bad.  
  
“Just close your eyes and Izzy will change something on or about you. Maybe she’ll change the color of your sweater or something along those lines.” Max explained.  
  
“I guess that wouldn’t be too bad.” Maria said while closing her eyes.  
  
Isabel got up and whispered in Liz’s ear. Liz shook her head and whispered something back. Isabel smiled when Liz was done speaking and went back over and stood in front of Maria blocking everyone’s view.  
  
After a few seconds she moved back and told Maria to open her eyes. When she did she saw that Max, Liz and Isabel were smiling at her. Even Michael was looking at her differently.  
  
“What did you do?” Maria asked while looking down and noticing that her clothes looked the same.  
  
“Why don’t you go over to the mirror and see.” Isabel urged her gently.  
  
Maria got up and walked over to the mirror that hung over the fireplace and couldn’t help gasping when she saw her reflection. Instead of her short blond bob she now had long curly auburn hair. Even Maria couldn’t believe how she looked. This was something she wanted had to do for the longest time before she had cut off her long blond curls, but never had the courage to actually go through with it and cut her hair instead over the summer.  
  
She couldn’t stop herself. She practically tackled Isabel to the ground in her eagerness to hug her new friend. “How did you know?” She asked.  
  
“Liz told me.” Isabel said while hugging the other girl back.  
  
“Oh thank you so much.” Maria gushed.  
  
Isabel couldn’t help but smile at the other girl. “Your welcome. It’s your turn.” She reminded the new red head.  
  
“Oh yeah. Ok Lizzie, what’s it going to be Chica. Truth or dare?” Maria said while playing with her new hair.  
  
“I think I’ll take a truth.” Liz said smiling at the other girl’s happiness.  
  
“Ok, what was the best thing that ever happened to you?” Maria questioned; hoping this would make up for the whole kissing Max thing.  
  
Liz blushed and turned to Max. “The day Max healed me and let me into his life.”  
  
Max smiled and reached for Liz’s hand. Michael snorted, which earned him a thump on the head from Maria. ‘Your ass is mine Deluca’ he thought to himself.  
  
“Ok you two, come on Liz it’s your turn.” Isabel said in an attempt to break the soulful staring contest her brother and Liz was having.  
  
“Um who hasn’t gone yet? Oh, that would be Michael I guess. So Michael truth or dare?” Liz said.  
  
Michael almost groaned out loud but remembered his plan and stopped himself. “Truth.”  
  
Liz looked around trying to think of a question to ask and couldn’t help smiling at Maria who was still playing with her new hair. Liz smiled and decided what to ask Michael. “Do you think Maria is prettier with her new hair or was she prettier before?” She couldn’t help but grin, she was dying to hear what the brooding teen would say.  
  
Maria’s head shot up when she heard the question. Why the Hell did she ask him something like that for. Just what she needs to be insulted by ‘Mr. Wonderful’. She also noticed the look that came over Michael, a look that was kinda interesting, in a self-abusive type of way.  
  
Michael almost choked on his own tongue. How the hell was he supposes to answer that one? Yeah Deluca was a royal pain in the ass and never knew when to keep her mouth shut, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t think she ok looking, for a human that is.  
  
“Um.” Was all Michael was able to get out. He looked around the room and saw that they were all smiling at him, dying to hear his answer. All of them except one, Maria looked mortified at what would come out of his mouth. ‘Can’t blame ya, I would too if I were you.’ He thought to himself.  
  
“Now, I guess.” Michael finally said. He was going to let it go, but then he caught her smiling at him. No way could he let her think she had the upper hand. “Yeah diffidently now since it’s actually long enough that she could comb it over and cover that puss of her.” He said, cringing on the inside at how cruel that came out.  
  
“Michael!!” Max snapped. Michael ignored him and Isabel who were both giving him the ‘death glare’. Liz looked like she wanted to shove something extremely painful up his ass, but the worst was Maria. She looked like she was on the verge of crying, her eyes were glistering with unshed tears.  
  
Michael cleared his throat. “My turn.” He said before anyone could lay into him. “Ok Red, what’s going to be truth or dare?”  
  
Maria looked up and the hurt that was in her eyes only seconds earlier was replaced with share hatred. “Truth needle dick!” She hissed at him.  
  
Michael narrowed his eyes, ‘good now I have no reason to feel guilty for what I’m going to ask.’ He looked her dead in the eyes and asked, “Are you still a virgin? If not then you have to give us all the detail about how you lost it.”  
  
“Oh my God, you can’t ask her something like that!” Liz shouted as she shared a look with a clearly shaken Maria.  
  
“Michael that’s a little personal don’t you think.” Reasoned Max.  
  
“No more personal than her knowing my biggest secret.” Michael shot back.  
  
“He’s right Max, besides what difference does it make.” Isabel said, figuring that Maria was still a virgin like her and almost certainly Liz.  
  
“Look he is only asking that question to embarrass her.” Liz counted.  
  
“What the Hell is the big deal. Does little Miss Big Mouth have a deep dark secret? What is she doing banging the football team?!” Michael shouted and then turned to Maria. “So are you going to answer the question or not?”  
  
Liz moved over and sat down next to Maria. “Honey you don’t have to answer the question.” Liz said while wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulder.  
  
Maria looked up and saw that both Max and Isabel were giving her sympathetic smiles, but when she looked over to the third alien she saw a look of triumph on his face. She knew that if she didn’t answer the question that he would win the silent battle they had begun back in Roswell in front of the Evan’s home.  
  
Taking a deep breath she decided not to let him win and answered his question. “No.” She said in a voice barely about a whisper.  
  
“Oh wow.” Isabel said, clearly surprised by her answer.  
  
Even Michael seemed to be a little shocked by the girl’s admission. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.’ He thought to himself, but instead actually said. “Well, well, well seems ‘Little Miss Big Mouth’ can keep something to herself. Come on the question also called for the details of your sordid little past.”  
  
“Michael, I think Maria answered your questions and the details are not needed! SO JUST LET IT GO!” Max demanded when he noticed the way Liz had tightened her grip on the other girl.  
  
“Yeah Michael, Max is right. Enough is enough.” Isabel said walking over to join the other two girls. She knelt down in front of her new friend and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.  
  
“Oh come on.” He didn’t understand why he kept it up but for some reason he couldn’t just let this go as Max had ‘commanded’. “So she sleeps around, what’s the big deal. Besides she’s the one who wanted to play this stupid game. Hell she even goads me into playing and now that we know she’ll spread them for anybody we have to pussy foot around her feeling. Give me a freaking break.”  
  
Maria looked up after Michael finished his rant and he actually stopped breathing for a few seconds when he saw the look of utter hatred in her eyes for him. ‘Good that’s what I want to see. I can handle hatred any day over the other looks she had been giving him.’ He thought.  
  
“I’ll finish answering your question. You want the details; I’ll give you the fucking details.” She shot back while standing up to face him.  
  
“Honey, don’t give him the satisfaction.” Urged Liz.  
  
Maria turned and smiled at her friend. “It’s ok Lizzie, don’t worry I can handle this.” She turned her attention back to the spiky hair alien praying that she could keep the brave façade up for as long as it would take for her to tell her story. “His name was Jake.”  
  
“Oh, not Jake Carter. Maria he’s gorgeous” Isabel gushed, clearly impressed.  
  
Maria turned and gave the other girl a sad smile and shook her head no before turning back to look Michael in the eyes. “No Iz, you don’t know this guy. His name was Jake Harper and he was a guy my mom dated when I was eleven.”  
  
Michael swallowed hard when she said this and started to look down at the floor. He didn’t like were this was heading. But Maria wouldn’t have any of that and she walked the few steps that stood between then and grabbed his chin making him look up again into her eyes.  
  
“You wanted to hear this so damn bad, you better look me in the eyes while I’m speaking to you.” She hissed to him.  
  
Isabel moved to sit on the couch next to Liz grabbing the other girl’s hand unconsciously. She could tell that this wasn’t going to be some harmless teenage sex romp story by the way the other two girls were acting. The smaller girl looked up and Iz was saddened to see unshed tears in the other girl’s eyes. Both turned their attention back to the scene in front of them.  
  
Maria took a shaky breath and continued. “I was home by myself, my mom had to work late. She used to send me over to Liz’s house when she worked late, but I had convinced her that I was old enough to stay home alone. It was around 9:00 and the doorbell had rung. I checked the peep hole like my mom had taught me to and saw that it was her new boyfriend Jake.”  
  
She stopped for a second to collect her thoughts. This was going to be harder than she thought. She had buried this memory so deep and knows it was barreling through her so fast her head was swimming. She couldn’t help it; she actually started to chuckle when she remembers how she felt that night while answering the door.  
  
“I liked Jake. He always paid attention to me. The other guys my mom dated use to ignore me completely or would demand that she sent me somewhere else because I cramped the mode. Not Jake, he actually would take me out with them sometimes. He would take us both out to dinner and to the movies. A week earlier he had taken us to the carnival, he even won me a stuff animal. So I never thought twice about letting him in the house.”  
  
“I told him that my mom was working but she would be home in an hour or so. He said that was fine that he would wait. I didn’t think about it and told him I just had to finish my homework and then I was going to bed. He didn’t say anything he just looked at me and then went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. So I left and went to my room. I finished my reading and had just put my stuff back into my book bag and was getting ready to turn down my comforter to get into bed when Jake knocked on my door and came in. I was so stupid I didn’t think anything about him coming into my room and then he said something to me that I hadn’t heard from a man since my father left when I was five, something that actually made me feel special.”  
  
_FLASHBACK  
  
“Hi Sweetie, would you like it if I tucked in you?” Jake said while taking a swig of his beer.  
  
Maria couldn’t help but to giggle. “I’m kinda old to be tucked in.” She said while snuggling down into her bed.  
  
“OK, well how about a kiss and a hug. Are you too old for that?” He asked while walking over to her bed. He put his beer down on her nightstand and ran his hand through her hair.  
  
Maria started to get nervous having Jake sitting on her bed and touching her hair but she just thought she was being silly. “No I’m not too old for that.” Maria said with a laugh as she reached up and gave Jake a hug and a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Good night Jake.” She added as she lay back down.  
  
The nervous feeling came back when Maria noticed that he wasn’t getting up to leave. Nervousness quickly turned to fear when Jake reached out and ran his hand down Maria’s cheek while saying. “You’re so pretty, just like your mother.”  
  
Maria tried to push him away but couldn’t stop Jake as he brought his face down and crushed his lips to hers. All she could smell was the beer he had been drinking and the cigarettes that he had been smoking earlier. She finally pushed Jake off of herself and was trying to jump out of the bed when he shoved her back down, ripping the blankets away and covering her body with his.  
  
Maria could barely breath with Jake’s weight on her. She was trying to fight him and she managed to kick him in his shin. “You little bitch!” He cried while pulling back and punching the frightened girl on the side of her head. Maria tried shaking her head, trying to clear her vision when she felt her nightgown being torn and her underwear being pulled off of her.  
  
“Oh God, please don’t! I promise I’ll be good! Please don’t punish me!” Maria begged, not completely sure what this man who she had trusted was going to do to her. She was getting ready to say something when she felt a terrible pain down in her private area. She felt like she was being ripped in two.  
  
“Please stop, this hurts so much. Please stop.” She whimpered. The monster didn’t seem to hear her as he continued to pound into her.  
  
After what seemed an eternity he finally got off her and stood up while adjusting his pants. “You tell anyone about what happened here tonight I will kill your mother.” With that he walked out of her room.  
  
FLASHBACK ENDS  
_  
Maria came out of the nightmare she was reliving to hearing both Isabel and Liz weeping on the couch. She truly looked into Michael’s eyes for the first time to see tears that he tried to control by blinking rapidly. She hadn’t realized that she also had started crying at some point of telling her story. She didn’t even try to hide the hatred in her voice when she spoke to him. “So now you know my secret. Does that make us even in your book.” She hissed.  
  
“I’m sorry.” Michael said in a voice just above a whisper. He didn’t even realize that he was reaching out to touch her shoulder until he felt his hand being slapped away.  
  
“Don’t you ever fucking touch me you Bastard!” Maria snapped. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me! I’ll kill you if you ever touch me again!”  
  
Michael actually backed away from the girl when he saw the wild look in her eyes. He realized that she wasn’t actually speaking to him but to Jake. She was still reliving the rape over again in her head and she had identified Michael in the here and now as the Jake from her memory.  
  
He couldn’t blame her. In some ways Michael was actually feeling like he was raping her again with making her tell her story. Michael watched helplessly as Maria finally collapsed on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest in a vain attempt to disappear.  
  
Finally Liz seemed to get her baring and slipped off the couch to crawl over to the other girl. Liz wrapped her arms around the hysterical girl and began to rock her back in forth in an attempt to calm her down. “It’s okay baby. I’m here and Max and Isabel are here too. We’ll make sure no one hurts you again baby.” Liz said while placing soft comforting kisses on the other girl’s forehead.  
  
Michael drew his attention away from the two girls on the floor to look at his ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ and the glares they were giving him actually made him feel even more ashamed than he thought possible. As did Liz’s words ‘Max and Isabel are here too. We’ll make sure no one hurts you again’. His name wasn’t included and with good reason, he had hurt her.  
  
He went back to watching the two girls on the floor. Liz was rocking Maria in her arms like a mother would with a small child that awoke from a bad dream. He tried to hear the words Liz was whispering in an attempt to comfort the other girl. Michael was shocked to see Isabel get up and go to them. Kneeling on the floor beside Maria, she reached over and began to rub the other girl’s back.  
  
“Maria baby, how about if Isabel and I take you into the bathroom and help you into a nice hot relaxing bath. I remembered to pack your favorite bubble bath?” Liz asked.  
  
Maria just shook her head and Isabel wrapped her arm around Maria and helped her stand up. Both boys watched Liz and Isabel helping Maria walk down the hall. Max waited until he was sure they were out of earshot before he turned around to lay into the other boy.  
  
Max stopped himself when he looked into Michael eyes. He had never seen so much self-hatred. Michael bowed his head and in a voice of defeat said to him. “Please Max, don’t. You can’t say anything to me that I haven’t already said to myself. I’m an asshole for putter her through that again. How was I supposed to know some sick fuck raped her when she wasn’t much more than a baby.”  
  
Michael couldn’t help but picturing the younger Maria. They were in fifth grade when it happened. He remembered that year the little pixie who had always been giggling had changed. It happened around the fall sometime. She would smile but there was always something sad in her eyes.  
  
“It happened around Halloween.” He said to Max. Max was so busy watching the young man in front of him that he didn’t really hear what he said at first.  
  
“What?” Max asked.  
  
“I said it happened around Halloween. Don’t you remember how Maria always acted around the holidays when we were younger? But in fifth grade she changed, she didn’t giggle anymore.” Michael reflected.  
  
Max didn’t get a chance to answer him because Liz came into the room. “How is she?” Max asked as he walked over to stand next to her.  
  
“Isabel is sitting with her, she’s actually pretty good with her.” Liz said with a small smile.  
  
Her smile disappeared when she heard Michael asking. “What ever happened to that Bastard?”  
  
“Why you want to ask him if she was a good lay!” Liz snapped. “Tell me did you enjoy it. Does it make you feel superior to us? Now you know her secret, what are you going to do? No let me guess, use it as leverage to keep her in line! Listen to me and listen good, I don’t care if you have powers or not but if you so much as look at my best friend the wrong way I will personally cut your balls off and force feed them to you!” Liz hissed.  
  
Michael looked at the petite girl in front of him and saw the look of conviction in her eyes and knew that if it were the last thing she did she would follow through on her threat. “No, I’m not going to use this information against her. Look I got to get out of here.” Michael said as he grabbed his coat and headed for the front door.  
  
“Michael, were are you going? “ Max asked. He didn’t know why but he was getting such mixed feeling from the other alien. He was almost afraid to even think about it. Could it be that Michael harbored feelings for Maria much like he had for Liz since they were in grammar school. Why did Michael notice that the girl had changed in the fifth grade?  
  
“I won’t go far, I just need to get some fresh air.” Michael said while opening the door. He held the door open and looked down at his feet and spoke without turning around. “What happened to him?” He asked.  
  
Liz was actually shocked at the sound of defeat in his voice and was surprised to hear how soft her voice was when she finally answered him. “He was killed in a car accident. He was drunk and wrapped his car around a tree two days after he had raped her. Maria didn’t tell her mother for almost two weeks after it happened.”  
  
Michael didn’t say anything; he just shook his head and walked through the door heading for the surrounding woods.

  
Chapter 2  
  
Michael had been sitting on a chair outside for over four hours. He had heard everyone else go to bed at least two hours earlier. He was just getting ready to go back inside and try to catch a little sleep on the couch when he heard the door to the cabin open. From where he was sitting who ever were coming out would not see him because he was too close to the side of the cabin in the shadows.  
  
He wasn’t too shocked to see Maria stepping outside. He had gathered she probable didn’t sleep to well after everything that happened. He watched as she turned on a flashlight and headed down the two steps to the soft ground. He saw her turn and head to her left, which has a small path to lead to the lake around a mile and half from the cabin.  
  
He gave her a few seconds before he headed down the path after her. “What the hell is she thinking wondering around the woods at 4:30 in the morning.” Michael grumbled to himself.  
  
Michael kept to a safe distance, not wanting to disturb the girl in front of him. It took them only ten minutes to get to the lake. He decided to hide behind some trees watching the young girl in front of her. He watched as she took off her shoes and sat at the edge of the lake with her feet nestled in the sand and the water gently lapping over her feet and ankles.  
  
He found himself wondering thing about this girl. He wondered if she envied her best friend the way he had his? Did she hate her mother for letting it happened? Michael was so deep into thought he didn’t notice at first that the girl in question had started to cry.  
  
He watched from his spot behind the trees not sure if he should approach her or not. He was sure he was the last person she wanted to see but he couldn’t stand to see her just sitting there crying. So after hesitating for another half second he decided to make his presents known.  
  
“Maria.” He asked tentatively  
  
Maria stopped crying when she heard his voice. “What are you doing here?” She asked while wiping away her tears.  
  
Michael stood behind her for several seconds and then bent down and removed his shoes and socks when he saw that she didn’t immediately jump up and run away from him. “I saw you leave the cabin and followed you down here.” He said while sitting down next to the girl.  
  
He noticed that she scooted a little bit away from him but that she wasn’t trying to leave. “I was sitting outside getting ready to go in when the door opened. At first I thought you were Max checking up on me.” He confused.  
  
Maria didn’t say anything; she just started drawing circles in the wet sand. After a few seconds she turned and looked at the boy. “Why did you follow me?” she asked.  
  
“While I’m already on everybody’s shit list and I thought it wouldn’t help any if I let you wander around in the woods at 4:30 in the morning by yourself. What the Hell were you thinking anyway? You could have fallen or something.”  
  
Maria snorted. “Yeah like you care, wouldn’t it be more like ‘one down, one to go’ in your book. At least your honest enough to admit you followed me for your own selfish reason. Don’t want to piss off Max and Isabel any more this weekend do you. What are you afraid of, that they will realize you’re pretty much worthless and they should just cut their losses.”  
  
Michael couldn’t help but glare at her. ‘Here I am trying to be nice to her and she treats me like this. Screw it, I rather be on the shit list.’ He thought but instead said. “You don’t know anything about me or my relationship with Max and Isabel, so keep your trap shut. I really don’t care what happens to you or Liz, your right. I will not however just sit there while you’re stupid enough to go wandering around in the woods by yourself. I may not be noble like Maxwell, but I’m not that big of a prick to let you go off and get hurt either.”  
  
“You can’t protect me from getting hurt, nor do I want your help. I trust you about as far as I can throw you which isn’t far. Look I just came out here to think and if you’re not going to head back to the cabin then just sit there and shut up.”  
  
“Fine.” Michael said while picking up a few stones by his ankles and tossing them in the air before skimming them over the water’s surface. Maria didn’t say anything and began to draw the circles again while going over the events of the evening.  
  
They sat that way for another half-hour before Maria stood up and began to wipe her pants to brush off the sand that was stuck to them. She looked down and saw that Michael had actually fallen asleep with is head resting against his folded arms which he had propped against his bent knees.  
  
‘Maybe I should leave him here.’ She thought to herself. She couldn’t help watching the boy’s features while he slept. He actually looked peaceful he wasn’t scowling. She couldn’t help noticing how handsome he was, actually he was beautiful. ‘What the Hell are you thinking that bastard tormented you tonight and you are noticing how good he looks and how peaceful he is sleeping. 'Get a grip girl.’ Maria chastised herself.  
  
She decided not to leave him sitting out there by himself and to wake him up. She was about to shake him when she notices a child’s pail sitting a few feet away. She tiptoed around Michael and went and got the pail then dipped it into the chilly water and walked back over to Michael. ‘Maria you’re being childish, but who cares.’ She thought to herself as she poured the water over Michael’s head.  
  
Maria actually laughed when Michael started to jump up and ended up falling face first into the lake because his feet were tangled together when he went to get up. Maria laughed for a few more seconds but stopped when she noticed that Michael wasn’t moving to get out of the water.  
  
‘Oh fuck.’ She though as sprinted the short distance to the alien. She crouched next to him and saw that when he had fallen into the water he had hit his head on a rock and that he had passed out.  
  
“Oh God, please don’t die!” Maria said as she rolled Michael over while moving around him so that she could grab him below his armpits and drag him out of the water. A few minutes later Maria was kneeling down next to Michael, she could see that his breathing was ok, but she continued to examine his head. Luckily, he wasn’t bleeding but he had a good size goose egg growing on the side of his temple.  
  
Maria gently shook Michael trying not to jar him too much. “Michael, come on Michael you have to wake up.” She gently pleaded. “Please Michael wake up, you might have a concussion and you shouldn’t sleep when you have a concussion.” She explained to the boy.  
  
After a few more tender shakes Michael started to come through. “Oh thank God.” Maria cried and before she could stop herself she found her arms wrapped around Michael shoulders giving him a giant bear hug.  
  
“What the Hell happened!” Michael shouted as he pushed Maria away. He didn’t realize how hard he had pushed until he saw her fall backwards onto her ass. “What did you do?! One minute I was a sleep and the next thing I know I’m wet and trying to stand up and instead I fell.”  
  
Maria swallowed and was getting ready to confess to pouring the water over his head. Just as she was about to begin her explanation they both jumped at the sound of a large explosion. Instinctually Michael pulled Maria down to the ground and covers her body with his own. After a few seconds both stood and looked in the direction of the explosion.  
  
What greeted their eyes was share horror. Several large billowing clouds of gray smoke coming from the direction of the cabin. The young couple looked at each other for a split second then broke out in full run down the path back to the cabin. The same trip that took ten minutes an hour earlier now only took three or four instead.  
  
Michael was in the lead and he made to the clearing first and stopped short when he saw several white trucks in front of the cabin. He saw at least a dozen men in white chemical suits walking around. He noticed only one man in a regular business suit. He felt a huge lump in his throat when he heard the man in the suit talking on his cell phone.  
  
“Yes sir, everything has been taken care of. No traces were left as instructed. Yes while they were still asleep. Yes we are heading back now. No the other two were not there. Yes back in Roswell most likely. Will eliminate the other two back in Roswell. Yes a car accident will be very believable. Yes sir. Thank you sir.” Suddenly the man in the suit snapped his cell phone shut and walked over to one of the vans.  
  
Michael felt Maria catch up to him and she almost knocked him out of his hiding place since she noticed a little too late that he was crouching down behind a few bushes instead of heading back to the cabin. Before she had a chance to speak Michael grabbed her yanking her down next to him and covered her mouth with his hand.  
  
He shook his head to show her not to speak and then turned her head slightly so that she could see what he had already saw. Instead of looking back at the clearing he watched Maria’s reaction. He saw her struggling to keep her breathing quiet and the silent tears spilling down her face.  
  
Michael turned back to watch as the men in the white chemical suits piled into the vans and the man in the suite headed over to a black Sedan. Just as he got to the driver’s side of the car his cell phone went off again.  
  
“Pierce here.” He barked into the phone. “Yes Agent Topolsky I just got off the phone with the director. No there were only three here the other two were not on the premises. Subject Maria Deluca’s automobile was not here, only the Evans automobile was present. Assumption is that both subject Deluca and Guerin are in Roswell. Very well, set up a time and place and leave a message. I will meet you when I reach Roswell.” He again snapped the phone shut and opened the door to his car and got in. Maria and Michael watched in silence as the black Sedan lead the small caravan away from the cabin.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
They both had ended up sitting on the ground in shock from what had just transpired in front of them. After ten minutes Michael got up and grabbed Maria’s hand pulling her up next to him.  
  
“Maria, where did Isabel tell you to park the Jetta?” Michael asked the crying girl. She didn’t answer him right away and continued to stare at the fire that was consuming the summer cabin that their friends had spent the last few hours of their lives in.  
  
Michael looked back at the cabin again then turned back to the girl and gripped her by the shoulders. ‘We’re sitting ducks out here. We have to leave and now’ he thought to himself as he started to shake the girl in front of him in an attempt to break her of the trance she seemed to be in.  
  
“Dammit Maria, you need to snap out of it. Where the Hell is your car, we have to leave here now!” He shouted to her.  
  
“Izzy said to park it across the way, they have a garage over there. She said it would be ok to park there so no tree sap or bird poop got on it. I just had it washed the other day and my Mom would get upset if I brought it back dirty.” Maria reasoned, not realizing what she was really saying.  
  
Michael took one last look at the cabin then grabbed Maria’s hand and ran over to the neighbor’s place. He let go of Maria’s hand and looked in the window of the garage and saw the car. Bending down, he grabbed the handle and lifted the door and moved inside, dragging Maria with him.  
  
He went to ask Maria for the keys but figured the keys were inside the cabin. Closing his eyes Michael put his hand down in front of the lock and used his powers to manipulate the tumblers. Sighing in relief he opened the passenger side door and shoved Maria inside before running around and hopping in the driver’s side.  
  
Looking over he saw that Maria was still out of it and reached around her to grab her seat belt, securing Maria in. He knew the ride ahead of them was their head start and he couldn’t worry about Maria getting hurt because she wasn’t strapped in while he was racing to beat the clock and get them as far away as possible before they figured out they were up here too.  
  
This was their only leverage, knowing that Pierce was under the assumption they weren’t up here and that he was going to ambush them back in Roswell. Michael sighed and looked over at Maria, she had stopped crying and was staring at him instead. He noticed that her eyes were blank and that even though she was staring at him she really wasn’t registering who he was. This unnerved him and almost caused him to go off the road.  
  
“Maria, are you in there?” Michael asked. He started to get nervous when she didn’t answer him. “Come on Maria answer me. You have to get it together; we’re going to have to work together now.” Still nothing. “Come on, say something!” He finally shouted.  
  
His shouting made Maria jump and then she started to shake uncontrollable. ‘Oh shit, she’s going into shock.’ Michael thought. ‘Great I can’t exactly bring her into a hospital, what am I supposed to do.’  
  
The only thing he could remember from freshmen health class was that when someone went into shock you were supposed to wrap them in blankets to keep warm. ‘Damn, I don’t have any stupid blankets. How the Hell am I supposed to keep her warm.’ He thought.  
  
“Shit!” he said while pulling over and hopping out of the car and running around to the trunk. “We so don’t have time for this!” He shouted to the early morning sky while using his powers to open the trunk. ‘Thank God for small miracles.’ He thought as he eyed a blanket along with some other supplies they may be able to use.  
  
“I’ll have to look at this stuff more closely later on.” He said to himself as he grabbed the blanket and shut the trunk. He raced back to car, hopping back in. Maria was still staring off in space and Michael shook out the blanket and wrapped it around her, tucking it in behind her shoulders. He noticed that she was still shivering and took off his jacket and wrapped that around her too before turning around and jacking up the heater.  
  
“I hope that helps you Deluca, because I don’t know what else to do for you.” He said as he took off again. They drove for almost close to four hours, with Michael sneaking quick glances of Maria. She had stopped staring in his direction and had started to stare out her own window instead. They had stopped once to filled the gas tank and Michael had gotten some junk food to hold them over for the day.  
  
After a few more hours she had stopped shaking and had snaked one of her hands out from the blanket and turned off the heater. She settled back into her seat and wrapped the blanket and Michael’s jacket tighter while continuing to stare out the window.  
  
It was almost another hour before she spoke. “Michael.” She said in a voice barely above a whisper. He almost didn't hear her at first.  
  
“Yeah.” He answered, sighing quietly in relief that she was coming back to the real world.  
  
“I have to pee.”  
  
“I hate to say it but we’re nowhere near a rest room. You’re going to have to go behind a tree.”  
  
“OK.”  
  
Michael pulled over to the side of the road and helped her get rid of the covers, while she took her seat belt off. She reached into the glove compartment and pulled out some fast food napkins. Michael sat and watched her jog behind several trees. A few minutes later she was back in the car, she turned and offered Michael a weak smile.  
  
He tried to give her a small smile but couldn’t. Instead he reached behind him and pulled out the bag of food he had gotten earlier. “Here, you should eat something. You haven’t eaten for over twelve hours.” He said while handing her the bag.  
  
“Not hungry.” She said while staring at the bag in her lap. She reached into the glove compartment again and pulled out a handy wipe to clean her hands.  
  
“You have to eat, and you are to hungry I heard your stomach grumbling earlier.” Michael said while pulling back out onto the road.  
  
“You can’t make me eat. I said I’m not hungry!” Maria shouted back.  
  
“Look, I’m not going to argue with you here. We have around four more hours of driving that we can get in before I have to stop for the night. I saw what looked like a pop up tent with a sleeping bag in the trunk. I figured we could move during the day and camp at night for now. I think if we try checking into a motel or something we will just be giving them a lead. So you are going to need your strength and you are going to have to eat.” Michael explained.  
  
“I’m not doing anything of the kind. Just drop me off at a bus station and you can keep the car. But I’m going home to my Mom. I need to see her, let her know I’m ok. She’ll know what to do, maybe we can go to the sheriff and he can protect us or something.” Maria said while tearing small strips from the brown bag on her lap.  
  
Michael just looked at her in shock. ‘What the Hell is she talking about.’ “You may not be a blonde anymore but your still ditzy! Have you completely lost your mind? You can’t go home! I heard him talking to his superior before you reached me! They know all about you and me and according to Pierce a ‘car accident will be very acceptable’ as in acceptable way to get rid of us!” Michael shouted at her.  
  
Maria just looked at him and her eyes were brimming with tears again. He was getting infuriated with her and this whole situation. “Can you stop your damn crying and actually think for a few minutes! There gone; Max, Izzy and Liz are dead and the FBI is out looking for us. They want to make our deaths look like a car accident and you want to run home to Mommy. What the Hell are you thinking?” He asked.  
  
Michael couldn’t help it and he continued to rant. “Look it’s really simple. You only have two choices: living or dying. Which one do you prefer? And I hate to be the one to tell you but going home to your Mom would put her in danger. So asked yourself if you are selfish enough to put her life on the line too.”  
  
Maria wiped the last of her tears away and turned and looked at Michael. “God, you are truly heartless.” She hissed in disgust. “Don’t you even care about the others, about their parents. What about your parents? Don’t you want to see them and let them know you’re ok? Probable not, their just some stupid humans, right? And how dare you imply I’m willing to put my Mom’s life in danger because I’m too selfish to care. What the Hell are we supposed to do? Go camping for the rest of our lives. I rather take my chances back home.” She shouted back.  
  
Maria found herself flung forward when Michael slammed his foot on the brakes. “Do you think you’re the only one hurting here!” he screamed at her. “I lost my brother and sister today! They were my only family! Not that pig the state decided was fit enough to be a foster father!” He shot back. “I’m sorry for their parents, I know that the Evans loved Max and Izzy. I’m sure Liz’s parents were devoted to her too, but I’m not going to go back to Roswell. I can’t, no make that we can’t!” He finished with a shout.  
  
He was so angry that she thought so little of him. Maybe there was more to it than meets the eye. “Our lives are in danger, and maybe you and your mother would be able to work something out, something that includes turning me in?” He said while staring her in the eyes. Would she do that, save her own skin at his expense.  
  
Michael was still staring in Maria’s eyes and didn’t see her hand until it was too late. She slapped him across the face so hard his head snapped to the opposite side. “Who the Hell do you think you are? I would never turn in another human being or whatever the fuck you are to those sick bastards!” she snare back at him.  
  
Michael just level his gaze back to her and searched her face for any indication that she was lying to him. ‘None.’ He said to himself, she isn’t going to trade his life for hers. “Fine then we’re in agreement, we travel during the day and set up camp at night.” He said while turning his attention back to the steering wheel and pulling back onto the road.  
  
Maria didn’t say anything, she just sat back in her seat and pulled out a package of Hostess Cup Cakes and Ring Dings and started munching on them. They continued on in silence. After her meal Maria found her eyes were getting heavy and let herself fall asleep.  
  
Michael looked over and saw that she had nodded off and sighed in relief. He couldn’t take anymore talking and was glad to have the silence. He continued to drive into the mountains until it started to turn to dusk. Keeping his eyes open he saw a side road that appeared not to be travel too much.  
  
He drove on and took a couple of small side roads until he came to a small clearing but was still covered by the tall trees surrounding it. ‘We should be pretty safe here.’ He said to himself as he parked the car. He turned and saw that Maria was starting to wake up.  
  
“Were are we?” She asked.  
  
“Colorado. We were pretty close so I just kept going in that direction. I’m sure the FBI will start looking for us here. We should be able to buy some extra time and stay a few steps ahead of them the longer we don’t check into a motel or something. Look why don’t we set up the tent and get our stuff. We can take some time to figure out where we go from here.” Michael said as he got out of the car.  
  
Maria just looked at the empty driver’s seat and opened the door and joined him at the trunk. She watched as Michael concentrated and opened the trunk. Sure enough there was a small pop up tent and one extra wide sleeping bag as well as a few Coleman lamps and a small table top propane stove.  
  
Michael bent over and grabbed the tent and carried it over to a clearing near a patch of trees. He checked the ground and kicked aside a few rocks. He looked up to see that Maria was pulling out the rest of the supplies.  
  
It only took Michael ten minutes to set the tent up and he helped Maria put their thing inside. Maria smiled and showed him that they were really lucky, there was an air mattress under the tent. At least now they wouldn’t have to sleep on the ground.  
  
Maria settled down on a log and watch as Michael started to build a small fire. It was still light out, but the sun was quickly disappearing and he remembered that he wanted to look at a map or something to get his bearing and to figure out where they would go next.  
  
“Do you have a map in your car?”  
  
“Yeah, my mom has an atlas, I think it’s in the back of the car, probable under the driver’s seat.”  
  
“Fine, do you think you could gather a few more sticks or something to keep the fire going and I’ll grab that.” Michael said as he started to get up.  
  
“Yeah sure.” She answered and getting up herself. She started to walk in the opposite direction as Michael when he called out to her.  
  
“Don’t go far, just around the camp site ok. I don’t want to have to try and find you in the dark out in these woods.” He explained.  
  
Maria snorted and said “Yeah, like you would care enough to come looking.”  
  
He was going to say something back to her but decided to let it go. It had been a long day and they were both on edge. In the past twenty four hours their worlds had been blown apart, now it was up to them to try and rebuild them and to stay alive.

TBC


End file.
